Coal and nuclear are needed to solve the looming energy crisis

Green energy subsidies, meanwhile, are a waste of money

SIR – With Britain’s energy needs on a knife edge, one wonders about the educational competence of many in the political establishment, in failing to realise where shutting down perfectly viable coal-fired power stations under the EU Large Combustion Plants Directive might lead. With India and China intending to build hundreds of coal-fired plants, our tiny reduction in CO2 will be swamped.

The previous government was to blame for starting Britain down this disastrous path. But the Coalition must realise that wind farm subsidies are exorbitant and that the money should be urgently diverted towards clean coal and nuclear.

B J Colby Portishead, Somerset

SIR – Last weekend a leading Liberal Democrat expressed his hope on the BBC that Chris Huhne might restore himself to public life as he is the man with all the answers. Heaven help us! Look at the energy luminaries who paved the way for him, Ed Miliband and John Prescott.

I believe that it is time we found someone who can point out the madness of the energy policies that these great thinkers have cooked up. Christopher Booker should stand as a candidate for Ukip. At least we would see a proper debate on climate policy.

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SIR – There has been much debate recently about the looming energy shortage. However, there has been no mention of one government policy that will make matters much worse – the decarbonisation of domestic heating and transport. To meet CO2 targets, there will need to be a massive switch in the next decade from gas heating in homes to electrical alternatives, and to electric cars, both of which will put immense new pressures on the grid.

According to the Government’s own figures, almost certainly underestimated, this transition will increase demand for electricity by 11 per cent.

Such decarbonisation targets should be torn up until sufficient supplies of cheap and reliable power become available.

Paul Homewood Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire

SIR – Coal-fired power stations and fracking pollute the environment. The disadvantages of nuclear power are well known. Oil, gas, uranium and coal are finite materials which will run out sooner or later. We should be planning for the long term.

Different governments have backed the wrong horse and been indiscriminate with their subsidies. We should have stored some of our North Sea gas but are now in the precarious position of depending on supplies from not very friendly countries.

There are many houses and other buildings both here and on the Continent that depend entirely on solar heating and power. Regions of Spain are bringing in regulations to force house builders to fit each new house with solar tiles. We should do the same here, instead of handing out subsidies willy-nilly.

Ruth Jacobs Liverpool

SIR – While we are closing our clean coal-fired power stations, or making them unaffordable, we are underwriting India’s coal-fired construction with overseas aid. Truly, the lunatics have taken charge of the asylum.

Ray Leach Guilden Morden, Cambridgeshire

SIR – On the basis that for a period of time the increase in atmospheric CO2 was accompanied by a parallel increase in global average temperatures, it was concluded that CO2 causes global warming – despite the multitude of other factors (including the sun) that determine the earth’s climate.

There has been no rise in global warming since the 1990s, even though CO2 emissions have continued to rise exponentially. This fact has been ignored.

Meanwhile, “global warming” has been conveniently rebranded as “climate change”.

Mike Dean London W5

Who should join the Fantasy Cabinet?

SIR – In addition to Sir Terry Wogan and Janet Daley, the “Fantasy Cabinet” members already recommended (Letters, March 17 and 24), could Christopher Booker please be added as Minister for Energy and the Environment? It always amazes me that our MPs continuously manage to ignore his dire warnings.

Andrew Gilligan must also be given a place somewhere, in order to restore press freedom. Perhaps your readers would like to offer suggestions for the complete Fantasy Cabinet?

Mike Cole Edington, Somerset

Putting the BBC Right

SIR – Question Time is without any doubt the most blatantly Left-wing-biased programme on television (Letters, March 24).

David Dimbleby verges on downright rudeness in the way he constantly interrupts any panellist who is even slightly Right-of-centre, often cutting them off in mid-sentence while allowing anyone (either on the panel or in the audience) with Left-of-centre views much more time to express their opinions.

Is it not about time that the BBC changed this policy on its flagship current affairs programme and allowed viewers to hear opinions from both sides of the centre given equal time?

No doubt BBC editors will deny the existence of bias in the same way that they never accept that they can be wrong.

John Horton Tadcaster, West Yorkshire

Savile scandal

SIR – I am as appalled as anyone else about the Jimmy Savile revelations but I’d like to set the record straight as far as Radio 1 is concerned (“This scandal will not be snuffed out”, News Review, March 24).

Savile was never a member of the “A team” of DJs, but had short-term contracts to present weekly pre-recorded shows. As such he was not required or expected to spend a lot of time socialising with the other DJs.

During my time in charge, to the best of my memory, he came willingly to any network event he was able to attend: the DJs’ Christmas lunch, network parties and photo calls. To suggest that he asked for payment to attend these occasions is nonsense.

It is also obvious that he did not raise all that money from his radio activities and if he obtained sponsorship for his marathon runs in return for displaying company logos, that was standard practice. What evidence has Andy Kershaw to say that he was “lining his own pockets”? The money handed to the charities is clearly on record.

Mr Kershaw complains that management did nothing about the rumours that were circulating. But we knew nothing – if those on the “shop floor” did not report what was going on, what could we have done?